Table Tennis Balls to Up Your Game

Lightweight and springy, table tennis balls are an essential component of the game. Filled with air, they zip through the air with great speed as they’re batted back and forth with ping pong paddles. Yet there’s more to meets the eye with the humble ping pong ball, which varies not only in terms of material but colour and grading.

What are table tennis balls made from?

Up until 2011, table tennis balls were made from celluloid, a blend of camphor and nitrocellulose. To produce a ping pong ball, a sheet of celluloid was soaked in alcohol before pressed into a semi-circular shape. Two of these half circles would be pressed together to form a perfect sphere. However, new International Table Tennis Federation regulations have led to these traditional celluloid balls being replaced with plastic polystyrene or ‘poly’ blends instead. So what does this mean for players? The new balls have a slightly slower speed, with a higher rebound effect.

How to choose table tennis balls

• Due to the change in regulations, new ping pong palls will be made from plastic materials, while older ones are still celluloid-based. You’ll need to check the rules for your regional table tennis body to find out what’s accepted in local tournaments.

• All table tennis balls are rated using a system ranging from one to three stars. The highest quality balls have three-star ratings, making them the most durable and long-lasting. Training balls and one or two-star balls are still popular options, particularly for amateur games.

• The official colours in table tennis are white and orange, but for games at home you can choose from a wide range of different colour choices.